IANT107 — Australia: Dreamtime to Dust
This course outlines the most important stages of Australia's natural and human development, which includes: Australias's origins and the evidence for the oldest life forms yet found on our planet; the development of our unique marsupial fauna and its extraordinary environmental diversity; the story of the world's earliest human seafarers; the oldest art in the world; a system of continental transcommunication (without the Internet); and perhaps the most remarkable story of all: the survival of the world's oldest culture against all odds. The cultural and spiritual links between Aboriginal people and the land will be examined in the light of modern land rights issues, together with thesocial and cultural adaptations that have enabled them to survive in a wide variety of Australian environments. This course is relevant for undergraduate studies in History, Geography, Environmental and Natural Sciences, Anthropology, Archaeology, Palaeontology, and Social and Cultural Studies.